Superfund site

In 1978 the discovery of the Love Canal in Niagara Falls, New York pointed out the consequences of environmental neglect. For many years American businesses had disposed of hazardous waste improperly and the materials ended up deep inside the land. These disposal sites soon posed potential threats to to public and environmental health. Reaction from the people led congress to establish the superfund program and create sites. 

The closest site to my home is the Brownfields site. This developmental site is located in downtown buffalo, which was granted 200,000 due to the fact of the love canal and lake erie being located so close. This clean up is expected to dramatically stimulate the economic development of the city of Buffalo. 

Grocery List

Intructions: On your next visit to the grocery store, make a list of genetically altered foods that are on sale for public consumption.

Genetically altered foods are mostly plants that have been modified in the laboratory to enhance desired reactions such as resistance to herbicides or improve nutritional content. Some advantages of genetically modified foods are that they are pest resistant, disease resistant, cold tolerance, drought tolerance and nutrition. 

List of foods: 

1) Cantalope

2) Soybeans

3) Corn

4)Lettuce

5) Peppers 

Endangered Species in Western New York

Wildlife is not a big factor in Buffalo, New York. Some of the species that are found there and beginning to become endangered are: 

Peregrine falcon- This species was eliminated from the Eastern United States in the 1960's reports from the New York State Conservation law show. There was reduced breeding due to pesticide residues in their bird prey. Due to efforts their population has begun to grow steadily with about 50 pairs now spotted, but still remain on the endangered list.

Great Lakes wolf- First began to disappear when these wolves hybridized with gray wolves moving in from Canada. The native species began being taken over and now these great lakes wolves are being protected by the states.

Indiana bat- These bats are located on the endangered list because of destruction of habitat. It is believe that there are only 13,000 indiana bats left in the 8 out of 120 caves located in New York. Because bats hibernate in caves, they are subject to flooding or collapsing, both which have killed thousands of bats in the past.

Allegheny Woodrat- In 1980 there were only 5 known sites that woodrats occupied, which became extirpated in 1987. It was discovered that the woodrats had been wiped out by a parasite of the raccoon called raccoon roundworm.

Eastern Cougar- With exception of Florida, the eastern cougar has been extirpated from east of the mississippi since 1900. Studies have shown that this is due to human expansion and the taking over of land that the cougar used to make its habitat. 

Mini Project #2

The Carbon Cycle

Mini project #2- Complete the missing links in the carbon cycle

Carbon Cycle- The main function of the carbon cycle is to convert carbon dioxide into living matter and then back. The carbon cycle moves, in its many forms, between the biosphere, atmosphere, oceans and geosphere. The carbon cycle is known to be a great natural recycler of carbon atoms which many factors on earth rely on, which makes it very important to keep the carbon cycle flowing and balanced. 

A simple explanation of how the carbon cycle works mainly deals with the earths plants and animals. First of all the plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it, combined with water from the soil and make substances necessary for growth. The process of photosynthesis is involved in changing the carbon atoms from carbons to sugars. Animals eat plants and use the carbon dioxide contained to build their own tissues. Animals return the carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when they breathe and also when they die and the decomposition remains in the soil. The carbons left in the soil are used for a new plants growth. 

Mini Project #1

Environmental Organizations

Mini Project #1- Conduct an internet search to determine which of the three environmental organizations you wish to join. Analyze the mission of each organization and state reasons for joining a particular one.

Greenpeace Organization-

This orgranization was created in 1971 by a group of people that wanted to start Greenpeace.

The first mission of this group was to protest U.S nuclear testing by putting themselves in harms way. Even though this group was intercepted by the U.S coast guard, they set the standards of the measures that need to be taken to make the world realize its flaws. The overall mission of this organization is to put a stop to many harmful practices that are harming the earth everyday. The issues that this group has tried to attack range from global warming, banning whale slaughter, ocean pollution, preserving forests, stopping the creation of nuclear bombs, and stop genetic engineering. This group has grown from a few activists to now having 30 countries involved in its practices. The Greenpeace organization is not funded by the government or any corporations. It is funded by its 250,000 members in the United States and 2.5 million members from all over the world. 

National Resource Defense Council (NRDC)-  This organization is made up primarily of activists such as lawyers, scientists and other types of professions. Offices are located around the country in places such as New York City, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The mission of this group is to safegaurd the earth in order to protect the earth and the humans, animals, and plants on it. In 1971, the National Resource Defense Council won the passage of the clean water act which allows citizens to sue polluters directly. In 1980, the NRDC helped to win federal protection for one hundred million acres of Alaskan land. They are also attacking issues on curbing global warming, moving America beyond oil usage, reviving the oceans, protecting the wilderness, and accelerating the greening of china. 

Wild Spots Foundation- Made up of students and teachers across the globe who work on the ongoing project to promote and protect biodiversity. Their mission in this organization is to protect valuable habits, save the threatened and endangered species, and convince people to want to take care of the environment. This organization is more hands on than the other two, because you actually see first hand how the earth needs repair and the animals lives that are being taken. On the wild spots website there was a quote that stated; "The earth was not given to you by your parents, it was lent to you by your children." With that said my focus remained on this group to better the world for which my children will live in.

Out of these three very successful and well thought- out organizations I believe that I would choose to join the Wild Spots Foundation. I would choose to join this organization because it consists of people young and old who are experienced in the field of wildlife or may be just learning. The part of this group that caught my eye was the fact that anyone could join and travel all over the world in groups to do research. The people involved in this organization take first hand action and get up close to the real problem. For example, in late september volunteers will depart for the Sichuan area in China to aid and care for pandas that were hurt in a earthquake. I would love to do that! It truely inspired me to hear that a teacher from Broward county traveled to Costa Rica in order to conduct an insect population study. I have always loved traveling to other countries and learning about their cultures, so this really is an organization I would enjoy joining. I like that the projects involve people going and helping with their own body rather than donating money or joining a facebook group online for support. The real way to help the earth and the creatures on it is to take action and see the trouble first hand. I also liked this organization because the president of the Wild spots foundation is chair of the science's at Nova Southeastern University. That makes it even easier to learn more about the organization and get involved.